


As Life Goes On

by DemonMamoru



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of Character Death, Multi, Nightmares, PTSD, Platonic Frisk/Sans - Freeform, Time Loop, Time Travel, ace sans, aro sans, intense nightmare sequences, only thing that might be NSFW is explicit/graphic depictions of violence, was thinking NSFW for other pairings but decided nah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-04-28 20:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5104412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonMamoru/pseuds/DemonMamoru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a series of interconnected dribbles with Frisk written as a reader insert. (You the reader are in Frisk's shoes.) This story is tagged with graphic depictions of violence due to intense nightmare sequences, and major character death because of Frisk having nightmares of the Genocide run, but don't worry, no one actually dies in this fic. </p><p>As it goes on, it seems that the story is evolving into Frisk/Sans and Reader/Sans, but I don't think any NSFW is going to be in this fic, even though Frisk is 20 years old, although at some point I'll probably be writing NSFW reader/Sans in a story totally unrelated to this one. I also don't have any real aim for this fic, other than I just want to post some drabbles that I've written. Expect a ton of fluff and comfort type stuff because I have no idea what I'm even doing with this fic other than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving On

It had been years since the last fight. Since Flowey had used it's god-like abilities to kill you, tell you about Undyne, and then reset you. It had been years since after that particular reset, after you defeated Flowey who was revealed to be Asriel, who didn't want to let the soul of his friend, go back to the world beyond the barrier. 

It had been years.

You had thought that your soul was still intact, that even the times it had been reset, torn apart, and reformed, hadn't effected you in the end.

You were wrong. 

You were 20, this year. 

And it seems that your soul, no matter how the resets had affected your ability to recall the resets and 'lives' that you lived, your soul itself still carried the memories of the things you had done, all of the different ways you had traveled the Underworld. 

Your soul, itself, remembered.

And apparently, the world was far crueler than you had thought, because you were starting to remember. You could recall different versions of yourself, and you can remember events happening...differently, whenever you made a choice to increase your LV, gain EXP...you remember killing everyone. Killing EVERYTHING. 

Even though it didn't happen, or at least happen this time, you still remember doing it. Even though it didn't technically happen-because you knew this time was reality and you refused to reset or go to a previous save-you remember.

No one had guessed that you were starting to remember these things, you kept this to yourself. Besides, now that humans and monsters were all getting along, now that the bridge between them had been built so well and was steadily holding, why would you ever tell them? That you could remember killing them? That you could remember times when you hadn't fought back, hadn't known what to do or what choice to make, that you remember some of your-friends now-killing you? 

Papyrus would be destroyed, would be horrified.

Undyne, would be...horrified to say the least, and feel guilty. 

Toriel would be grief-ridden, if she knew that she had succeeded at harming you at any time.

Asgore...seemed to know that you had been 'killed' more than once, and even 'killed' by his own hands...he had enough grief and sadness already to deal with. You couldn't bear the thought of even putting more on his mind.

Alphys was coming to terms with what she had done, was willing to do, and she didn't deserve to be put back at square one just because you were remembering more about your pasts. Plural. 

Sans, however. In one memory, you heard him say that he was reliving everything every time it reset. You know that if anyone else knew-or could even understand what you were feeling-it was him.

But how could you go to him?

You had killed his brother-whether in self-defense, confusion of your own actions, just to see if you could-many, many times. 

You would put your gold to bet on that he would-does-hate you.

But…

Even now, living on the surface, he and Papyrus, kept visiting you frequently. You helped Papyrus cook, laughed and joked together, and learned from each other. And Sans kept cracking bad jokes, harmless pranks, and horrible puns that never failed to put a smile on your face. 

For all that you knew that Sans had every right to hate you-that he should hate you-he never acted like he did. 

And you couldn't help but wonder why. 

But you are too afraid to bring up the topic, and so the visits from your friends continue, and you never mention it, but you keep smiling and laughing and loving, because…

...what else can you even do?


	2. Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was late at night when I wrote the first four chapters of this fic, so please point out any spelling/grammar errors so that I can fix it. Thanks~

But, a couple of months pass, and you're willing to be that the more perceptive people in your family are picking up on your mood change. Alphys seems to pay you more attention than normal, Toriel gently prys at you, and you've caught Sans staring at you longer than normal once or twice. 

Out of everyone, you're certain that Sans is the only one who has any clue as to what's really upsetting you. Because, out of everyone, he remembers everything. 

And if you remember everything, you swear you'll go crazy.

Or hurt yourself.

Some of the things you're starting to recall...your past actions...are making you hate yourself. 

You've started snapping rubber bands and hair ties against your wrists, going for jogs until you're so exhausted that you don't dream-don't even had the nightmare-of memories that you once did. 

You're beginning to hate yourself for your 'other' actions. 

Because, by all technicalities...everyone should hate you.

But, they don't. And Sans...Sans doesn't seem to. 

And he's got reason to hate you the most.


	3. Video Games and Nightmares

You were spending the night with Undyne, Alphys, and the skeleton brothers at their house. Papryus' reasoning was that they had the biggest house with a tv, and he would be able to make spaghetti, and could now make it well enough to where it was good enough to be edible, and everyone could just hang out together. 'Without the parental couple' was Undyne's supposed reason to agreeing, but you knew that she liked being with everyone even if she wouldn't say it outright. 

The living room was much bigger than the original house in Snowdin, with a couple of big couches, fluffy recliners, and huge bean bags for gaming. Currently, Sans was beating you, Undyne, and Alphys at Mario cart. You did managed to smack him out of place once with a well-placed blue shell. He laughed, winked at you, but then proceeded to take the lead again after knocking you off the edge of Rainbow Road. 

Still, the tournament was continuing, and now that it was after dinner, Papyrus wanted to play, so you handed over your controller, getting tired and now just happily listening to your friends antics, as Papyrus tried valiantly to take the lead, and somehow managing it, but you were sure Sans was going easy on him. 

You sank into the bean bag that was cradling your body, and with the weight of a blanket pressing over you, you slowly fell into a doze. Your friends voices were reduced to a dull murmur, and you sank to sleep, feeling content. 

When you next opened your eyes, it was to a sparkling star on the ground. A save point. 

Golden pillars and windows with golden light streaming in-although you weren't sure how that was happening given that the outside was always a dull twilight-but the golden hues gleamed inside this corridor, but it felt..off. Turning towards the end, you started moving. Your clothes tugged at you and you looked down, it was covered with dried brown gunk, and dust. You were filthy, and then in your hand, you saw a knife. You didn't even feel you fingers clenching the handle.

With an overwhelming feeling of danger, your hackles rose, and your stomach turned with nerves. The sensation prickled at you, but still, you kept moving, slowly. You gripped the knife with both hands, shaking, and pressed forward. 

Dimly, you could tell that this was a memory. 

But that realization felt distant, and unreal. 

The next minute though, you saw a familiar silhouette. 

Sans stood there, meeting your gaze, as though he expected you.

By now, you knew from experience that he did. 

“It's a nice day outside. Birds are singing...

flowers are blooming...

And kids like you...” 

he trailed off, a blue spark igniting in his left eye socket, 

 

“ _ **S H O U L D B E B U R N I N G IN H E L L.”**_

 

Your soul turns blue after his initial attack, and Sans waves his hand carelessly, and then you slam into one of the pillars. The shock of it makes you let go of your weapon, and even though you don't want to fight, you can't seem to vocalize any words to try and get Sans' to stop. But instead, blue magic lights up around the knife, and it rises into the air...and then Sans' snaps his fingers-how does a skeleton snap his fingers anyway is beyond you-and before the knife sinks into your chest, you wake up, covered in sweat, screaming. 

 


	4. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I just realized that tenses are important when writing in second person POV, so please message me if anything's off. Thanks again~

Your immediate reaction is to violently toss the blanket off, your scream still rising in volume and intensity as you roll off the bean bag. 

Your eyes quickly adjust to the living room and you cut your scream off after realizing that San's and his monsters aren't after you anymore. 

Undyne and Alphys just stare at you wide eyed.

Papryus had jumped up ten feet at the sound of it, before landing, his bones shaking in surprise at the unexpected volume. 

Sans, however, just looked at you from his own bean bag across the room. Sighing, he put his controller down and stood up. 

“You ok?” His voice was low and soothing, sounding surprisingly gentle.

Your body shook, and you stared at him, and swallowed. Then you nodded, slowly. You looked around the room again, just to double check that you were in a different place and that it wouldn't dissolve. 

“Nightmare?” Sans asked, although you were certain he knew the answer. 

You nodded again, not trusting your voice and your now-sore throat. You wiped your forehead with your pajama sleeve, the shaking of your chest not stopping. 

“I'll make you some tea,” Sans said, walking around into the kitchen, “you should probably sit down before you fall down,” he remarks as he passes you, still giving you your space. 

Taking his advice, you sit down on the edge of the bean bag, with your head in your hands. 

Papryus is the next to react. 

“Are you alright?” A skeletal hand rests on top of your shoulder. 

You nod, and take deep breathes. 

“Don't worry, human, you are safe. Most especially you are safe with Undyne and my good self in attendance! You have nothing to fear!” Papyrus posed in what he imagined was a heroic stance, although it really just made him seem like a bit of a dork. But he means well, and so you smile at him, his silly antics pulling your further from the dream. He was alive now, and that's what counts. 

Undyne and Alphys seem speechless by your outburst, but Undyne speaks up.

“Yeah, if anything wanted to hurt you, we'd stop it before it could! I'd like to see someone try to get past us,” she chimes in, fanged teeth in a confident smirk. 

But you think, that's not true, Sans is the most powerful out of all the monsters, and if he decided to, he could easily swat away Undyne, and Papryus to get at you. 

You heard rattling in the kitchen as Sans went about fixing something. 

“Y-yeah,” Alpys added, “plus I helped put in a security system just in case something every happened, so we'd know if anyone was coming here.”

But the person who might want to hurt you most is  _already_ in the same house as you. 

So it's pointless, you think. 

If Sans wants to kill me...he would't even have to try. 

After a few moments of Papyrus and Undyne trying to cheer you up, you're starting to feel a little better, although the looming fear of Sans still hangs over you. Sans reemerges from the kitchen, with a steaming mug of tea. 

He hands it off to you, slowly and carefully, either being mindful of your shaking hands, or he knows more than he's letting on, and you think it's got to be both. 

“I didn't know you could make tea, Sans,” Papryus says. 

“Toriel's made if for me a lot before,” Sans says. “I picked up the habit from her.”

You blow on the surface, steam rising up, the scent sweet and soothing, and take a sip. It's mild, it's taste fresh and clean, and you start to relax. 

“Thank you,” you say to Sans. 

He looks at you, with a strange expression in his skull-eyes, “you're welcome.” And then he shrugs like it's no big deal. But again, you know that isn't true. 

And you're still not sure what to do about it. 

 

 


	5. Restoring the Atmoshpere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, there's one more chapter which kinda wraps this little arc up, and then we're changing tones to focus on Frisk/you with other characters. If you have any ideas/requests, let me know and I'll see if I can squeeze it in somewhere~

The video games resume, but the mood in the room has been changed entirely. It's more subdued and quiet, but Sans is throwing out jokes, and Papryus is making comments, and slowly, the atmosphere is coming back up, not what it was before, but still something warm and comfortable.

You catch Sans watching you, meeting bright white pinpricks of his 'eyes' and you both stare at each other for a minute. You look away first. You wonder what he thinks of when he looks at you. Does he see you hurting his brother? 

Killing other monsters and coated in their dust and grit?

Does he see a kid wielding a knife and gunning for him?

Or does he see you when you first cross over the snows of Snowdin curious about everything? Laying the guard dogs down with a few pets and friendly coos? Does he see the you that battled with Papryus and flirted with him about how you could make spaghetti? 

You know what you remember when you look at him. 

You remember Grillby's when you refused a bottle of ketchup to go with your fries, and he started drinking it straight from the bottle. 

You remember how his expression changed when he asked you to keep an eye out for something that was like an echo flower because he was worried about his brother. 

You remember the look on his face when he thanks you for going along with his scheme to cheer his brother up. 

You remember him encouraging you in the final battle and how he's rooting for you. 

You look at him, and you remember how-despite his pranks and the 'the truth is you just got owned nerd!' note-how much he cares about you and his brother. 

You look at him, and while you can still see the pulse of the yellow-blue of his magic, you see only someone who's been suffering for so long to make sure that others are ok. You see his sense of humor, his willingness to go out of his way to cheer others up. 

You see so much good in him, because even in the nightmares, he's only doing good.

And you're afraid that when he looks at you...

...that he sees only bad. 

These thoughts circle around in your head, and you see on the clock on the entertainment center that it's one in the morning. Undyne and Alphys both yawn, and excuse themselves to the guest room that has bunk beds. Papryus also follows their example, standing up. 

“Good night, Sans,” Papyrus reaches down, sleepily pats Sans on the shoulder, and then walks over to you and kneels down to where you've gone back to resting on a bean bag, and hugs you firmly. “Good night, Frisk. I hope your dreams are only good for the rest of the night, or I, the great Papyrus, will have to come down to help combat your nightmares myself!”

You huff the start of a laugh, and hug him back, able to feel his scapula through the shirt and cape he still wears, and you both let go at the same time. 

“Night,” you say as he stands back up and nods at you, rubbing the phalanges of one hand at his eye socket, before treading up the stairs and shutting the door with a quiet thud. 

You start to settle back down, the hum of appliances filling the house with a familiar ambiance.

“So...” Sans starts up. 

You cuddle back down into the blanket and see him standing over you.

He sits on the edge of the bean bag, the huge thing more than able to take the two of you, since your not very big, and Sans isn't really, either. His posture is relaxed and his expression matching, but you can tell he's really paying attention to you. 

“You wanna talk about whatever's got you so bad that you wake up like that?”

 


	6. Content of the Subject Matter

Your first reaction is to try and pass it off as a run-of-the-mill typical thing. After all, what happened in the nightmares was your fault in the first place, and you don't want to sound like you aren't good enough to deal with whatever's bothering you. But Sans is the most observant, and between him and Toriel, it's difficult to not break down and just spill everything. 

But you don't think Toriel knows about the SAVES and RESETS like Sans does, so he's the best choice, really, to talk about these sort of things with. The thought of those lasers, bones spinning after you, and your blue soul being slammed into walls is almost enough to change your mind.

“Look, kid,” he still calls you that after all this time, “if you really don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'm not gonna press you,” his eyes are half-lidded, you can tell he's tired himself, “but if I had to take a guess, you're dreaming of different time lines, aren't you?” His eyes meet yours, and you nod.

“I figured that. You're not the only one, you know.”

You raise an eyebrow at that. 

“I have horrible crap going through my skull at night. Dreams of you, killing other monsters, and my brother, and me.”

You stiffen, and like he knew it was going to happen, he places a gloved hand on your shoulder.

“But that's what's called an 'alternate timeline' and in this one, you haven't hurt a soul,” he says soothingly, his voice low and calm. 

You don't break eye contact, and his bones move in what looks like a deep sigh, his ribs drawing up and out before settling down. 

“And I'm not convinced you did those things in other times because you wanted to. There were other RESETS before you came along, so there was something or someone, else at work.”

You know that this has something to do with Chara and Flowey, because Flowey still had that ability. And you know that Sans probably doesn't know that your own RESET and SAVE abilities overrode those of Flowey, and you idly wonder if Sans even knew about Flowey, other than just some rumor about an echo flower, but it's too late to really think about it. It's not an important factor right now. 

“The nightmares feel so real,” you whisper like a confession.

“Well, they're not so much a dream as a memory of an event that didn't happen,” Sans states matter-of-factly, which is a definite change from how you've ever heard him talk. You think back to his secret room in Snowdin, the broken machine, and the photo of the group of people that you don't know. 

“I'm sorry,” you say brokenly, remembering the fights that you had with him, but never being able to quite make it past him. 

“I know, Frisk, I know.”

“You have nightmares too, because of me, don't you?” Not a question. 

“Yeah.” He nods once.

You both stay silent. 

“I don't blame you though. Things turned out alright this time.” He lays down by you. “The only thing that would change that...”

The moment drags on before he says what you know is coming.

“...is if you RESET.” He turns up on one side to look you in the eyes. “I don't like askin' things of people-'cuz generally they won't do it, but if you've ever listened to anything I've asked you to do...” his eyes close, whether in resignation, or sorrow, or a memory, or maybe a combination of all three, “then please- _please_ -don't ever RESET the world again.”

It's a long moment. 

“I won't.” What else could you say to that? Besides, everything was done. You were happy with the results now. 

He makes a sound like a sigh again, and lays back down. “I don't think I could take it if you did. I've been to the surface quite a few times, and you still have RESET in the past. And to be honest, the wait of when it's going to happen is starting to kill me,” he breathes out. “But we've never been on the surface for so long before, either. So maybe this is the time you won't.”

You reach out and grip his arm. “I promise I won't. I like how things are right now.”

You did. You liked school. You liked your family. You liked being the ambassador between Monsters and Humans. Other than the nightmares and the 'other' memories, there wasn't a single thing you disliked about your life now. 

“Me too,” Sans chuckled, and started to get up. 

You didn't let go of his arm and instead tried to tug him back down. He got the message, and let you, settling his weight back down. 

“Will you stay, please?” You ask in a small voice. 

“Sure thing,” he says, and wraps an arm around your shoulders and you move to let his arm under your head, cushioned by his coat sleeve, your head nestled in the corner of his shoulder. 

You cuddle closer to his side, and throw the blanket over him too. 

Even though he doesn't breathe, his body makes a slight whooshing sound, and it's as rythmic as breathing as you guess a skeleton can get. It soothes you, and you close your eyes, managing to drift off to sleep. 

“G'night, Frisk.”

 


	7. A Change of Pace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping trip time!

That morning, you woke up before Sans, as far as you could tell. With him, you weren't sure of anything. Your eyes flick open, seeing streams of sunbeams come in from the windows. A slightly burned smell of something sweet drifted into the room. As you became even more aware, Undyne, Alphys, and Papyrus were distantly talking in the kitchen keeping their voices hushed.

“I told you that we shouldn't put them in there for that long,” Undyne said.

“Y-yeah. I mean, with all that sugar, it wouldn't take all that long under that heat level for the sugar to crystalize and burn,” you heard Alphys say.

“Ok, the edges will be a little crispy, but I LIKE apple fritters like that.” That was Papyrus.

“Ugh, I guess it doesn't really matter, we all know that we'll eat 'em anyway,” Undyne's voice was subdued a bit, but no less snappy. You would swear up and down that Undyne had no level of chill at all.

“Let's give it a few minutes to cool off, and we'll wake up Frisk and Sans,” Alphys suggested as the scraping of metal on metal could be heard. Presumably putting fritters on the cooling rack.

“Sounds good to me,” Undyne said.   
“Of course! In the meantime, I shall run to the store to get ingredients for lunch,” Papyrus announced. Most likely for something with pasta, even though he didn't cook spaghetti as much anymore, a lot of the things he continued to make did contain some form of noodle.

You watched with low-lidded eyes as Papyrus walked past you and then unlocked the door and left. He claimed to like the feel of the morning air, and as it was starting to get cold out, there was a draft of cold air that wafted over you. Shivering from the sudden change in temperature, you curled further into Sans, who now seemed to be putting our warmth.

You heard a low, lazy chuckled, and then Sans starts to stroke your hair. His touch is gentle and kind. You sigh, and relax against him.

“Not quite awake yet?” he whispers in a quiet tone.

You shake your head.

“Don't want to have to get up?”

You nod.

“Me neither,” Sans says, a low laugh. The gentle stroking of your hair continues, lulling you back into a light doze.

*********

It's a few hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, by which point you've showered and dressed, Sans has headed off to go job searching, picking up odd jobs, and seasonal and temp positions. As much as he comes off like he enjoys being lazy, he isn't one to let others pick up his slack if he can help it. Papyrus already has a job working as a cook at Olive Garden (his cooking is far better than it used to be) where he's a huge favorite by most of the staff and regular costumers.

Alphys and Undyne are still at the house, both have today and tomorrow off.

“Hey, Alphys, Frisk,” Undyne starts, after looking at a news paper.

“Yeah?” Alphys asks.

“What do you guys think about going out clothes shopping?” Undyne takes a sip of her sea tea.

“Th-that sounds like a good idea, really...I don't have much of a variety of...casual clothes, to be honest.”

“I'd like that,” you say. You were pretty much finished growing, but a lot of your clothes were starting to fall apart from frequent and rough usage. Plus, it was changing into winter, and you could use a couple more hoodies and some thicker socks.

You look at Alphys and Undyne questioningly.

“Toriel came over to make sure we were all alright,” Alphys tells you.

“Well then, get your stuff and we'll go to the mall, and I'll go tell Toriel we're going out, she might like to come with us.” Undyne got up and headed back towards the guest room.

“Alright,” you nod, and go to your room and pick up one of your warm hoodie sweaters, a royal purple-blue, and pull it over your head. You grab your wallet, having an allowance plus money from some part time jobs, and pull on your boots, and then you grab a scarf and hat off of the coat rack mounted on your wall, and shut your door, and go back downstairs.

Alphys already has her pink coat on, displaying the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie title on it, and wearing blue mittens and a matching blue hat. (The blue is the same color as Undyne's skin and scales, which you're ninety-nine percent sure is why Alphys bought them.)

Undyne only has a thin coat on, being more cold-resistant than either of you, which makes no sense to you, but the cold doesn't seem to really bother her. She's got a small black leather purse over her left shoulder, and has keys to the white car you have.

Toriel comes up behind her, wearing her usual purple robes with the royal emblem on them, along with a black coat. She can't wear a hat because of her horns, but that's never seemed to bother her. Toriel quickly takes the keys gently from Undyne, and thanks her, and looks at the three of you.

“Are you all set to go?”

You nod, along with Alphys and Undyne's agreements.

Alphys opens the door, and you all come out, walking into the crisp, beginning of winter, air. Toriel locks the door, and you all pile into the car.

“Buckle up, everyone,” Toriel says as she puts the key in the ignition and the engine turns over into an idle.

You feel like today is going to be a good day.

 


	8. Holiday Shopping (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I head canon that Sans is a complete and total nerd, but he doesn't want anyone to ever find out about him being a scientist and finding out just how deep he was in with Gaster and time travel and time lines, so he calls people 'nerds' and stuff so that they think he hates that kind of thing, but Alphys just went and kinda blew that cover so. *shrugs*

Neither you, or Toriel for that matter, remembered to expect the holiday season shopping crowds. Christmas decorations, music, and ads for deals on popular presents and toys, filled store windows, played on the radio, and Undyne and you sang the songs uproaringly and with great enthusiasm. Christmas with your monster family was great, and one of your absolute favorite times of the year.

Alphys didn't sing, but you did know that she mentally calculated the time between commercials on the radio, changing the stations so that you never had to listen to them and only had music to sing along to. Toriel drove carefully, using her turn signals, watching the rear-view mirrors, and obeying the speed limits. She sang softly along with the songs, enjoying their novelty, as monsters never had so many types of music to listen to.

“Where are we going?” Alphys asked as Toriel drove towards the center of the town.

“The mall, I thought since it has a bunch of stores in one place that it would be the best place for clothes shopping...although I didn't count on so much traffic...” Toriel said, the car jerking suddenly as a driver in a yellow bug swerved into your lane without signaling.

“There's gonna be a lot of people christmas shopping too...” Undyne said, her eyes lighting up with an idea, “hey, maybe we should do some shopping of our own too? I haven't been able to get anything for Papyrus, Asgore, or Sans yet.”

“That's a good idea,” Toriel smiled and nodded as she pulled into the mall's parking lot.

“Yeah,” Alphys nodded in agreement, “and we can help each other decide on gifts! I...don't know what to get anyone, really...” She rubbed one of her head-spines ruefully.

“Frisk, you got any ideas?” Undyne asked.

“Um...I was going to get Papyrus an action figure, and Sans a book about space...”

“Oh, that's right!” Alphys snapped her claws as Toriel finally found a parking spot and shut the engine off. “I completely forgot that he loved that sort of thing! It's been a long time since I-” Alphys become quiet as Undyne and Toriel stared at her.

“Wh-what is it?” A sweat drop materialized on Alphys' forehead.

“You know Sans that well?” Undyne questioned as everyone got out of the car.

“W-w-well...back when I first started working as the Royal Scientist..um...he had worked with the previous one, and he showed me the labs and what he was working on, before quitting himself. We worked together for a small time.”

“You mean there's actually something besides bad puns in that bone head?” Undyne laughed.

Toriel locked the car and everyone walked toward the mall's entrance. From her posture and creases in her forehead, you could tell she was paying attention.

“...Sans is a lot smarter than he lets on,” you said.

“That's right,” Alphys nodded. “He's incredibly intelligent. If he had wanted to be the next Royal Scientist after the last one...he easily could have gotten the position. I wonder why he didn't...” Alphys frowned sadly.

“Wait, he's THAT good at science stuff?” Undyne's face was the picture of disbelief.

Alphys nodded. “I think he was just distraught over the other Royal Scientist...and couldn't stand to be in the lab without him,” she shrugged, “...it IS strange though...for the life of me, I can't remember the last Royal Scientists' name...”

“You don't?” Toriel asked, “I remember that there was a scientist before you, but I can't remember his name either...it's so strange, isn't it?” Toriel spoke for the first time in the conversation.

“Y-yeah, Sans once told me it had something to do with an experiment that went wrong, but...he never said anything more than that.”

“That'd explain why he doesn't want to talk about it,” Undyne said. “So I guess I'll have to find something nerd-related to give him, right?”

“Yeah, he really likes stuff about the stars and planets,” you supplied as you held open the door of the mall for your friends. The dull roar of chattering shoppers fell upon your ears and the smells of coffee and hot chocolate lingered in the air, coming from a Starbucks.

“So, everyone, where do you want to go first?” asked Toriel.

 


	9. Holiday Season (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the next chapter is being written. No, you can't expect me to update regularly and I'm honestly sorry about that. And yes, I'm still going to write about Christmas and New Years in my story despite it being January. Also Sans is a fucking nerd. You're welcome.

“The bathroom!” Frisk said.   
“Alright, and then after that?” Toriel asked as she lead everyone toward the food court where the closest bathrooms were.

“Um, the book store? We could find the kind of book that Frisk wants to give Sans there...” Alphys suggested.

“Are there manga for sale too?” Undyne asked.

“Pretty sure, were you going to get Papyrus some volumes of that one series about hunting down rare foods?” Alphys asked as they sat down at a table to wait until Frisk and Toriel came back from the bathroom

“Yeah, but I don't remember the name of it, but I'll know it when I see it.”

“I know the one you're talking about, I'll help you look once I've helped Frisk with Sans present.”

“God, who knew he was such a freaking NERD!” Undyne cackled and smacked the table top with her hand.

“Trust me, Undyne, you have no idea,” Alphys said with a smirk that almost no one ever saw her wear, “Sans is way more of a nerd than he'd like anyone to believe, much less even know.”

“Really? What else?!”

“Well for one thing he loves any show that's in space. Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are some of his favorite shows.”

“Those all sound cool though!” Undyne said. “Star Wars is the one with the laser swords though, right? I like the blue ones.”

“That's the right show. The Jedi and Sith use them, the Sith only use red though.”

“Hm. Might get Sans something related to Star Wars then, since it seems he likes blue. What do you think?”

“It's Sans, Undyne, he'll probably just be happy that you made the effort, and you already know what you're getting Papyrus, and as long as he's happy, Sans will be happy.” Alphys said, and pulled out her phone from her pocket to check the time.

“I'spose you're right. I still wanna shock him, ya know?!” Undyne said, slapping her palm on the table.

“Well, I don't blame you for that, it's kind of funny when he's off-kilter!” Alphys giggled.

“So what are you getting him?”

“I ordered a hoodie sweater that has an inflatable pillow in the hood. It's got a small mouth piece you use to inflate it whenever you want, and then shrinks down when you squish the air out of it and don't need it anymore.”

Undyne's face morphed into an expression of disbelief, and then into awe.

“That. Is. Genius.”

“I-I know right?! Sans will love it. Papyrus might not be very happy with me, though-”Alphys rubbed her left spine ruefully.

“Nah,” Undyne's face became sad. “Papyrus knows Sans is depressed, so anything that gets a positive reaction out of Sans will make him happy too.”

“O-oh. You know too, then.” Alphys looked away. “I've known Sans for quite a while. I didn't...I didn't know that anyone else knew too. He's good at hiding how he feels. Better than most people would think.”

Undyne stared at Alphys, one yellow eye meeting Alphys's own, and nodded in agreement. Say what you wanted, but Alphys certainly wasn't oblivious.

Before Undyne could say anything further, Toriel and Frisk came back. They both stood up, both of them relieved to be able to change the mood.

“Now, where shall we go?” asked Toriel.

“Sam Goody?” Alphys suggested. She planned on getting most of her shopping done there.

“That sounds nice,” Toriel agreed, “lead the way then, Alphys. I don't know my way around here...”

“Sure thing!” Alphys grabbed Frisk and Undyne's hands and started to guide the group to her her favorite store.

 


End file.
